Question for the board about ESPN/SEC Network +

It’s just the espn app now. Watchespn app is gone. Espn+ and all of the normal watchespn content is there. The game tonight was broadcast on espn+ and sec+. If you have sec network as part of your normal cable/sat/streaming service, you’d just log in with your normal service provider credentials. You’d also need to make sure you clicked on the right broadcast. I accidentally clicked the espn+ broadcast first and was prompted to pay for a subscription. Backed out and found the sec+ broadcast which worked fine with my service provider credentials. If you didn’t already pay for sec network, you’d need the additional espn+ subscription and then watch on espn+ instead of sec+.

I hardly ever see anything worth watching broadcast solely on espn+. Occasionally a softball game is only on there and not sec+, but only one or two games last year that I remember.

 

download the ESPN app on your smart tv/device, and sign in with your YouTube TV account info.

 

It doesn’t. I watched on espn app and I do not have espn+ subscription. There were two broadcasts on the app. One on sec+ and one on espn+. Sec+ is free if you already pay for sec network.

 

I found it after some searching

 

It would be nice if it didn’t constantly freeze—and I have a mesh network in my house.Gave up and listened on the WRUF/ESPN radio app

 

When I was in tx, my boss had gigabit service with a mesh network. He had all kinds of issues with streaming and gaming. When he got rid of the mesh network and just used the router placed near the center of the house, almost all of his issues went away. In large houses and multiple story houses, I realize that’s not always feasible.

I had 600mb service in tx, now I’m in the sticks in fl and the best I can get is 12mb dsl. Surprisingly, I have way less issues streaming with my 12mb service. We almost always have two tv’s streaming and two tablets or a tablet and laptop being used. Never have any lagging or freezing with streaming apps. Makes no sense to me. Uploading or downloading large files takes way longer, but my streaming services perform much better than they did with nearly 600 times the speed.

 

Yes, you can record and watch later.
Sling is okay, not great. Quite often last season, the broadcast would freeze up, or the sound go dead. Doesn't seem to be problem the last 4 or 5 months. The image quality is shaky too. It was not great at the start of the game last night, but got much better.

 

Very annoying. In the ESPN Roku app, it would only give me the option to log in to ESPN+ (to which I am not subscribed). But in a browser, I'm prompted for me provider (YouTubeTV) and was able to watch. Why the difference? Had to AirPlay the game from my computer.

 

sec network plus is a streaming service and currently is not available on the xfinity x1 app. it has not worked for a while now. comcast is aware of it and is doing nothing to fix it. I watched last night's game on my firestick's espn app. It was also available on my ipad through the espn app and my laptop computer through espn.com

 

I bit the bullet and paid the $7 for a month so I could watch. As the season goes on (hopefully) we don’t have any/many games only available on espn +

 

I use the espn app on multiple roku’s and have no issue logging in with my service provider credentials. Not sure why you’re having an issue.

 

If you already pay for sec network, you didn’t need to pay for espn+ to watch the game yesterday.

 

for those that think its crazy to pay $7/month to watch the Elon game...you'll also get the Samford game

 

Yes I did. It was on SEC Network alternative not the actual SEC Network. I don’t have alternative.

 

It was on sec+ on the espn app. It was also on espn+ on the app. I don’t pay for espn+, but I watched the game on the app with my service provider login credentials. I assure you, you did not need espn+ if you already pay for sec network. Sec+ is free with your sec network subscription. I’ve been watching baseball and softball games on sec+ for years, with three different service providers. I’ve never paid any extra. You were duped.

 

If you already pay for sec network, you do not need espn+ to watch the samford game. It will be broadcast on sec+, which is free if you pay for sec network through your existing service provider.

It is mind boggling how much people struggle with these apps.

eSpn is trying hard to force their espn+ crap down peoples throats. I even hit a paywall yesterday trying to watch the basketball game because they made the espn+ broadcast easy to find, I had to go to a different screen on the app to find the sec+ broadcast, but it was there, and it was free. I watched the game and did not give espn an extra $7. I also watched the embry riddle exhibition game as it was also on sec+.

 

yep, it was a sarcastic comment since the 2 games on SEC+ are crap games that wouldn't be worth $7 to watch

 

One more note for folks that have lagging and freezing issues. If you’re using a smart tv, the processors in most of them suck, especially if the tv’s are a few years old. First gen fire sticks and roku’s, even the lower end roku’s are problematic too. If you’re having issues, try a different device. I would suggest a box, like a roku ultra, fire tv cube, nvidia shield, etc. The processors are much better than what you get built in on the tv or even on the stick devices. My mom recently started having issues with the hbomax app on her smart tv after the last update. It became unusable, would freeze and lock up the tv within the first five minutes of anything we tried to watch. Had to unplug the tv and plug back in to get working again. I deleted and reinstalled, no help. She would occasionally have issues with netflix, though not as bad. I grabbed her just one of the cheap roku 4k express units and she hasn’t had a single issue since. We have smart tv’s in every room at my house, but I don’t use the smart tv functionality, we have a roku ultra on each tv. They’ve been awesome, even with our garbage 12mb dsl internet service.

 

I’m outing myself a bit—I teach Media technology and policy at UF (from a management perspective, not engineering). Before grad school I worked in the business side of cable tv. The posts here, and stuff I’m reading, suggest there are some real issues to resolve to make the streaming world consumer friendly.

 

There’s a learning curve as with any tech, but most of it is not that difficult to navigate. I did not find the learning curve to be any more difficult than learning how to use the guides and dvr’s with traditional cable or sat. In about 10 minutes, I taught my 60 year old parents how to download apps, get signed in, and navigate them. Now they’ve watched every episode of the bachelor and bachelorette in every country its ever been filmed in. Lol. They love all the access to stuff they get on hbomax, and similar channel specific apps.

Once you start, you’ll realize how much more access to stuff you have. So many channels have their own apps now, that are free with your service provider subscriptions. Tons of content that wasn’t previously available on demand is now at your fingertips. I think most people are just easily frustrated with any type of change. Especially if they don’t immediately figure it out and they’re trying to watch a game that’s already started. If they’d downloaded the app earlier in the day, gone ahead and got logged in, and taken a moment to learn how to navigate it, it would be a whole lot less frustrating than screwing around with it for the first 20 minutes of the game. Luckily, once you’ve figured it out, almost all this content is available for replay in a condensed version with less timeouts and commercials within minutes after the game. Don’t even have to remember to set the dvr.

Espn’s app is purposefully difficult because they are trying to make people think they need espn+. Most other apps are more user friendly. Espn’s app (watchespn) was much more friendly before they started espn+. They also screwed something up where I can no longer connect my phone to a tv with the lightening to hdmi adapter. Their app just goes black. Worked fine on their old app and still works with all my other apps. Started as soon as they started pushing espn+ and has not been resolved.